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06
May
5 things to do in and around Harrogate this weekend, May 8-10
Love up your home in Ripley
The three-day Decorative Home & Salvage Show is aimed at people who love sourcing beautiful pieces for the home and garden. The outdoor boutique-style event takes place in the grounds of the 14th-century Ripley Castle. About 100 stalls specialising in decorative furnishings, antiques and salvage goods are expected to attend the event, which is of particular interest for people with period homes.
Tickets £10 to £15, Friday, May 8 to Sunday, May 10, Ripley Castle, Ripley, HG3 3AY.
Members of the 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, based at Claro Barracks are pictured on a freedom march through the city
Watch the Freedom Parade in Ripon
There are few more rousing sights and sounds than a military band marching through a city centre, and Ripon hosts one every year. The Freedom Parade marks the Freedom of the City being awarded in 1949 to 21 Engineer Regiment of the Royal Engineers, which is based at the city’s Claro Barracks.
About 150 soldiers will march from Spa Gardens, past the town hall and along Kirkgate to Ripon Cathedral for a service. Sunday’s parade forms part of a wider weekend of free activities celebrating the relationship between the Royal Engineers and Ripon.
Free to watch, Sunday, May 10, Ripon city centre.
William Dutton conducting Cuore's launch event in May 2025.
Hear world-class music in Harrogate
Cuore Chamber Orchestra returns to Harrogate for a celebration of Haydn at St Wilfrid’s Church. The Harrogate-based orchestra, which is in its second season, was set up to bring high-quality professional musicians – usually only heard in places such as Manchester, Birmingham and London – to Yorkshire.
Saturday’s concert, conducted by orchestra founder William Dutton, features Haydn’s first symphony and first cello concerto. The programme also includes Mozart’s ever-popular Eine Kleine Nachtmusik as well as Elgar’s Elegy and Malcolm Arnold’s Sinfonietta No 1. Turkish cellist Cansın Kara headlines the event.
Tickets £30 adults, £5 under-18s, Saturday, May 9, St Wilfrid’s Church, Duchy Road, Harrogate HG1 2EY.
Knaresborough House
Go green in Knaresborough
Knaresborough House is hosting a Green Futures Fair on Saturday to celebrate local actions that improve the environment. The event includes a repair café, which will fix broken items, a dog show and music headlined by Billy the Bard. There will be talks on toads, hedgehogs, swifts, rivers and energy, plus poetry, song and dance.
If the weather is fine the fair will be held outdoors, so people are urged to bring picnics. However, soup, drinks and cake will be offered by Buttercup Community Café. This is the first event organised by the reformed Knaresborough and Harrogate Friends of the Earth.
Free, 10am to 4pm, Saturday, May 9, Knaresborough House HG5 0HW.
Test drive electric cars and bikes in Harrogate
Everything Electric, the UK’s outdoor festival of electrification, returns to Harrogate for a third time. Increasing fuel prices have stimulated interest in clean energy, and visitors can test-drive vehicles such as the BYD Atto 3 EVO, alongside electric vehicles from BMW, Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia and Polestar. Home energy exhibits include solar, heat pumps and battery storage, with advice from Vaillant, Heat Geek, and Eleven Energy.
The Electric Theatre includes a chat between Leeds North West MP Katie White and event founder Robert Llewellyn on net zero and climate action. Family attractions include Robots Live, featuring BBC Robot Wars Live! machines. Additional activities include the Power Heroes Trail, e-bike rides, simulators, and a bouncy castle. Friday is a business-to-business day not open to the public.
Tickets £10 (£7.50 concessions), Friday, May 8 to Sunday, May 10 (Friday is trade-only), Great Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate HG2 8NZ.
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